Week #2 Project Study-'Cathouse'

    This is the original image I've been studying this week for our second project.  I am still struggling to find my comfort zone within Illustrator so I felt this would be a good study project for me to become more comfortable with basic vector drawings.  I also am still struggling with texture techniques and obtaining good quality high resolution images for reproduction, so I also tried my hand at some techniques learned with that as well.

    My versions of the images above as well as below are recreated with both a tea stained textured paper effect and a coffee stained textured paper effect, all-be-it only slightly different effects, unique non-the-less.  I recreated the images (which I now affectionately refer to as the 'Cathouse' project) both in Illustrator and Photoshop.  I first recreated my images as simple vector drawings in Illustrator using techniques I learned this week on the blackboard recordings.  I have learned that there is a great value to copying images for best reproduction of each side of an image using these techniques.

    Once each image in it's own contained 'box' was complete I grouped the entire image together and copied it into Photoshop where I was able to add a texture layer on top of the image and used the blending effect Linear Burn for the best result.  Several blending modes were quite interesting but this particular blend mode brought out the vibrant colors best and allowed me to use the textured paper layer more effectively.  I used both a tea stained paper texture image as well as a coffee stained paper texture image.  Both gave very nice effects I thought. The tea stained a slightly more vibrant look and the coffee stained a more dulled look.  Both very nice though and I'm not sure which one I like best.  I do like this technique a great deal and I've learned this week that resolution from internet art DOES MATTER so always look for the highest res you can for best effects!

    For my final project of the week I'll recreate a similar version of the above images mixing it up a bit into my own version.  I will use the same techniques I've learned here.  Sorry for the delay this week in submitting my work.  It's been a crazy week with the terrible weather we had earlier as well as end-of-the-school-year events with my kids.  Back on track now however, thanks.